OH GOD IT'S ZOMBIE DOGS

Just for fun, I’m going to run down my personal favourite PSX games from back in day (like, 1997). I got into gaming very late in the day with that particular machine so these are some of the first titles I ever really got into. Let’s proceed, and you can mock me for my crappy taste:

Intelligent Cube/Kurushi



You probably don’t remember this game, and in fact I only know of it because I got my hands on a demo of it that came with Playstation Magazine. It must have been fate, because shelling out £5 for a magazine when you’re twelve is no mean feat.

(Side note: How are gaming magazines still going, exactly?)

Anyway, Kurushi as it was known in these parts is a deceptively simple puzzle game with the most minimalist design ever, but it was awesome. I really can’t explain it, you have to play it for yourself. I have contacts (an ex Game employee), so I got a copy about a year ago. I squeed forever.

Resident Evil 2



I didn’t touch any of the Resident Evil franchise until it was introduced to me by Matt (formerly of the Sunday variety). For some reason he gave me 2 first to play, and I instantly fell in love. Yeah, the writing was bloody atrocious but what’s that around the corner? OH GOD IT’S ZOMBIE DOGS.

Resident Evil never set out to win any prizes for its storytelling, it just wanted to scare the crap out of you. I have always been ok with this.

Spyro the Dragon



Yeah, alright, it’s very clearly aimed at the kids, and it has all the difficulty curve of a pancake, but my God was it fun. It does bear the scars of a 90’s game, that is, a main character with ‘attitude’, but in the first game they got away with it because it was just that good. Ok, so he ended up with a skateboard in later games, but at least he didn’t wear a backwards baseball cap (shudder).

Spyro’s still going in its Skylander form these days, but I haven’t touched it since the third instalment. My twelve year old cousin’s really into Skylanders, and when I told him I played the original games on the PSX when I was his age, he just looked at me funny. It broke my heart a bit.

Tekken 3



Another franchise I got into late, I got Tekken 3 after playing the demo and it ruined me for every other fighting game since. I played Tekken 2 afterwards and realised they’d improved the controls immensely (try jumping in 2. You won’t land a kick because you’ll fly right over your opponent’s head), as well as the graphics. Plus 3 introduced Ling Xiaoyu, who has always been my favourite character to play with.

Silent Hill



As if I could write this without including Silent Hill. I played it after buying the Silent Hill PS2 boxset that came out when the movie did. It can’t best 2, which was the best in the series by a long shot, but it still uses the machine’s limitations to its advantage. The fog creeps in and disorientates you, and what’s that God-awful noise in the background? ARGH IT’S MONSTERS, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

Again, haven’t played any since The Room. Apparently it’s snow now rather than fog? Or rain, or something? Prfft.

Tomb Raider



Well OF COURSE this was going in.

Tomb Raider was the first game I ever bought for myself (as I detailed here in the past), and the first that ever properly drew me into its story and mythology. Oh yeah, it’s nothing now compared to what’s out there story wise (Hi, Bioshock!), but it still strikes a chord with me even now. It might have something to do with the fact the main character was the same sex as me, which I’d never seen before. It was relatable as a tale of an acrobatic noblewoman wearing hotpants IN THE SNOW can get.

Love it.